Councillors have praised a police operation that saw a massive 146 vehicles in four days clocked speeding on the South Devon Highway – but have said that only average speed cameras will actually stop drivers breaking the law.

Newton Abbot police have been conducting Operation Falcon as a road traffic and roads policing operation targeting anti-social and dangerous drivers as well as removing criminals from the area's road network.

Operation Falcon detected 49 offences and between July 10 and 14, and 146 vehicles were detected exceeding the speed limit in a joint Safety Camera Partnership operation.

Police on the South Devon Highway

Sergeant John Henley said that action on the South Devon Highway was taken and designed to target those choosing to flaunt the speed limits.

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Cllr Alistair Dewhirst, the Devon County Councillor for the area, has said he is delighted that the police have been enforcing what is the law, but added that motorists will continue to ignore the speed limit unless there is a permanent deterrent.

It follows on from the long running saga of councillors wanting average speed cameras on the dual carriageway to tackle speeding after being told that the average speed on the road was 66mph when the speed limit of the road is just 50mph.

Cllr Alistair Dewhirst

Cllr Dewhirst told Devon Live: “I am delighted that Operation Falcon has been carried out and the police have been enforcing what is the law. No matter what people think about the road and the speed limit, the law is that the speed on the road should be no more than 50mph. That is a speed that will ensure that local residents are able to open their windows and use their gardens without being blasted by speeding cars and being choked by air pollution.”

He added that he was also delighted with the news that average speed cameras on the A38 and A380 near the Splatford Split have reduced speed by 10mph, and said that as he regularly drives along the road to work, it has made it a much more pleasant journey with the more reasonable speeds that people are driving at.

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But he added: “Although it is great news after Operation Falcon, but we are still pushing for average speed cameras on the South Devon Highway and we won’t be dropping the issue.

“No matter how police enforce the speed limit with these operations and no matter how successful they are, the sad reality is that the vast majority of the motorists still ignore the speed limit and only average speed cameras will be able to prevent and enforce the law on speeding.”

(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Sergeant John Henley said: "A recent day of action on the South Devon was designed to target those choosing to flaunt the speed limits along this stretch of road which we understand is causing a lot of concern within the local community.

"This day has been a great success and there will be more to follow. We would like to urge drivers to be mindful of speed limits when driving as excessive speed is one of the driving behaviours which most commonly leads to collisions which cause death or serious injury."

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Sgt Henley added: "We would like to remind everyone in our local communities to report dangerous driving or other offences to us through our local website page here or by emailing 101@dc.police.uk marked for the attention of Newton Abbot Response and including as much detail as you can.

(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

"It is these sorts of concerns and reports that have led us to set up Op Falcon."

The last Teignbridge HATOC meeting heard that timed road races are being held on the South Devon Highway and fears have been expressed that someone will have to die before action will be taken to stop speeding on the road.

The committee requested that they are given all of the data from Operation Falcon when it is complete to be discussed and looked at in their next meeting.